After launching the “Hanukkah Sessions” project during the pandemic, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl and producer Greg Kurstin brought their festival of lights celebration to life on Monday night (Dec. 5) at Los Angeles’ famed club Largo with an all-star cast of supporters.
According to Variety, the show — presented by director Judd Apatow — at the 250-capacity club featured a long list of stars singing songs by Jewish artists, with Grohl playing drums and Kurstin on keyboards. The night started off with Apatow singing Blood Sweat and Tears’ “Spinning Wheel,” which was reportedly inspired by a karaoke night in Hawaii with Grohl’s family.
In the midst of a concerning rise in antisemitic incidents and hate speech in the U.S., proceeds from the night went to the Anti-Defamation League. P!nk was on hand, proudly proclaiming, “my name’s Alecia. I’m a Jew” as the intro to her performance of “Get This Party Started,” followed by Kurstin’s The Bird and the Bee collaborator Inara George singings 10cc’s “The Things We Do For Love.”
Grohl’s 16-year-old daughter Violet strummed an acoustic guitar for Janis Ian’s “Edge of Seventeen,” with Beck performing his tune “E-Pro,” the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O singing her band’s “Heads Will Roll” and Jack Black ripping through Rush’s “The Spirit of Radio.” The night ended with Grohl on the mic singing Randy Newman’s “I Love L.A.,” followed by an encore of David Lee Roth’s “Just a Gigolo.”
The inaugural 2020 “Sessions” featured covers of songs by he Beastie Boys, Drake, Mountain, Peaches, Bob Dylan, Elastica, The Knack and the Velvet Underground, while last year’s edition brought eight crazy nights of covers, including a black metal take on Lisa Loeb’s “Stay (I Missed You),” as well as the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop,” Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana,” the Clash’s “Train in Vain,” Kiss’ “Rock and Roll All Night,” Van Halen’s “Jump,” Amy Winehouse’s “Take the Box” and Billy Joel’s “Big Shot.”
